BC

Canada's Milos Raonic, of Toronto, Ont., celebrates after defeating Spain's Albert Ramos during a Davis Cup tennis world group first-round tie singles match in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday February 1. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Chalk two up for the underdogs.

Milos Raonic and Frank Dancevic staked Canada to a 2-0 lead over favoured Spain on the first day of a Davis Cup tie on Friday.

After Raonic opened with a hard-fought win over Albert Ramos, Dancevic cruised to a straight-sets victory over Marcel Granollers, putting their squad on the verge of a major upset, and Canadian tennis history, in the best-of-five series.

Spain, ranked No. 1 in the world, is a five-time Davis Cup champion and reached the finals last year before being upset by the Czech Republic. Canada, meanwhile, has never advanced beyond the first round of World Group play, which is open to the top 16 countries.

With a win in doubles play Saturday, Canada can advance further than it ever has in Davis Cup play.

In the opening match, Raonic struggled early, but still got Canada off to a good start. The Thornhill, Ont., native overcame a one-set deficit to beat Albert Ramos 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 at UBC's Thunderbird Sports Centre.

"I don't think I faced a break point, so I took care of my serve," said Raonic. "I was a little bit disappointed a few times. I was 40-love and I would make sloppy mistakes to 40-15 and let him get to 40-30.

"I just need to execute those a little bit better."

Raonic's Spanish opponent allowed that he was outplayed.

"I played well, but in the end he played better than I did," said Ramos.